Brexit Trade Deal

So finally the United Kingdom and the European Union have reached a trade deal. On Christmas Eve (24th December). 

I am relieved that the UK wouldn’t had to be on knife edge anymore for possible chaotic no deal Brexit.

Everyone will have mixed reactions about it but for me even the best deal is EU membership given UK - EU free trade deal won’t be better than when the UK was the EU member state, a deal is better than not having a deal at all.

Nobody wanted disruption, chaos and tariffs. If there were no trade deal agreed between the EU27 and the UK then no deal Brexit without EU trade deal (Hard Brexit) would had severely impacted the British economy. Tariffs would had been applied & there would had been food shortage in the UK supermarkets. Sound like protect fear? Definitely not, it’s project fact & Brexiteers & the govt knows that. They could had extended the transition period. Well they didn’t. If they had then everyone wouldn’t have to panic about possibility of no deal Brexit.

So I hope we can relax easily without anymore worries about no deal Brexit without EU trade deal.

But let me be clear, the trade deal like I said in previous paragraph is no better than the EU membership. 

I wrote in my previous blog post that I voted against Brexit in the 2016 in/out referendum. 

https://mrlimitless95.blogspot.com/2020/12/brexit-transition-period-deal-or-no-deal.html

Here are the comparison between Brexit trade deal and the EU membership. 

The infographic proves that the EU membership is much better than not having EU membership. 

While it is good that visa free travel to Europe (mainly EU countries) will continue. Up to 90 days (3 months) & no tariffs being imposed on imports coming from the largest trading partner: the European Union. 🇪🇺 🇬🇧

The rest aren’t impressive. Worse of all, the UK will not participate in Erasmus. Can you imagine? The UK not taking part in the scheme that brings opportunities for British students to study in universities in EU nations. 

Furthermore, non EU countries participate in Erasmus scheme: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Turkey, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, etc. 

It is really a shame that the government decided to take the UK out of it despite in the past, they want the UK to continue taking part in Erasmus. It’s a huge blow to young people in the UK who do want to have an opportunity to go to university to study in the EU (& non EU). 

The details of the trade deal will be available so that we can read it for ourselves. MPs will have a chance to vote on 30th December next week and after that then in the New Year, the European Parliament will also have a chance to vote for the deal. 

So there are mixed feelings about the deal (FTA. The free trade agreement between the EU and the UK in my opinion will do a little to improve lives in the UK. Many businesses have moved out from the UK to Europe. Now there won’t be financial passporting anymore for the City of London. Now Eurosceptics like Nigel Farage wants the UK to become that kind of country that is tax haven & turn Britain into “Singapore on Thames” which I doubt that can happen. We all want what is best for the UK (In or out of the EU. Especially that is already been settled) But if it is to turn the UK backwards & not going forward especially with the nostalgia about Britain’s past (Empire & all that), then that would mean that we wouldn’t be able to get over it. So Brexit or not, Leavers cannot be obsessed with things like Churchill, empire. Anything pre-EU before the UK joined the EU in 1973 which was then called the EEC (European Economic Community). 

So this is something that we will have to live with for years and decades to come before there is anything about the possibility of the UK rejoining the EU in the distant future. Yes, Brexit matter is over but the legacy & the effects of it will be felt for us the British to embrace change good and bad. For most part, Brexit will be something that won’t benefit the ordinary people except those who are wealthy. 

We all hear before that the UK left the EU (supranational political & economic organisation & the Union) but not Europe (the continent). The UK is European & it will always be European. Geographically, culturally and historically. Even the EU & the UK go their own ways (which that Brexit brings separation & divisions). That is why I do not believe in isolation politically and economically. That is all I can say about it.